Morse code Morse code Morse code is a method for encoding text into a series of dashes and dots, that can be sent (transmitted) by means of sound, light or radio waves, and that can be decoded be a skilled listener without special equipment. The system is named after the American artist Samuel Finley Breese Morse [2] who co-developed an electrical telegraph system at the beginning of 1836 [1] . In his original design, Samuel Morse had only planned to use numbers (0-9). The code was later adapted for more general use by Alfred Vail, who added letters, special characters and punctuation marks to the code, in such a way that the most frequently used characters (in the English language) were represented by the shortest codes (e.g. the letter 'e' is a single dot). In the early days, morse code was used to send short text messages over long distance by means of the so-called electrical telegraph via (long) wires. The transmitting operator used a morse key (switch) to turn the electric current on and off in the rithm of the morse codes.

At the receiving end, the electric current engaged an electro-magnet, that would 'click' in the rithm of the morse signals. In most cases the codes were directly written to paper by attaching a pen to the electro-magnet, resulting in the original series of dots, dashes and spaces. The image below shows the word MESSAGE printed by a telegraph in morse code on a paper strip. This way, a message could be recorded, even if the operator was not present at the receiving station. The dots and dashes were later translated into text again. Some operators were trained to recognize the 'clicks' of the electro-magnet, translate them to text and write them down directly. In the 1890s, morse code began to be used for radio communication as well, as it was not possible to transmit voice at the time. When used over radio, the dots and dashes are represented by a series of short and long tones, often called dits and dahs by the operators. As morse code requires limited bandwidth, it was ideal for transmission via Short Wave Radio (HF). A skilled morse operator could still 'read' the text even if the signal was noisy and disturbed.

Morse code was heavily used for (secret) transmissions during WWI and WWII. The image above shows former Dutch radio interceptor Louis van Erck using a wartime Type 3 Mk.II (B2) spy radio set, during a demonstration at Museum Jan Corver in November 2008, as part of the exhibition Secret Messages . Being an experienced radio operator, Louis is capable of smoothly adapting his sending speed to the skills of the operator at the other end. Morse code remained popular during the major part of the Cold War, but was eventually replaced by other transmission methods. In the Navy, morse code was used as a backup measure for many years, with the well known SOS ··· --- ··� being internationally recognized as an emergency signal. Today, morse code is no longer officially used, but it remains relatively popular with radio amateurs (HAMs), although it is no longer mandatory for a HAM Radio Licence is most countries, including the US and most European countries. For most people it is rather easy to learn . Direction Finding (DF) As it takes relatively long to send a message in morse code, transmitting stations, such as WWII clandestine agents , were prone to detection by means of Direction Finding .

During WWII, both the Germans and the allies developed sophisticated methods for such Direction Finding (DF) . In the later part of WWII, but more predominantly during the Cold War, this was partly solved by the development of the so-called Burst Encoder , a device that could record a message in morse code and play it back at very high speed. This shortened the transmission significantly and reduced the risk of detection and direction finding. At the receiving end, the message was recorded (e.g. on a wire-recorder), played back at much lower speed, and written out again. The image on the right shows an example of a Cold War burst encoder that was used by the USSR. Such devices generally consisted of a recording device (the actual burst encoder), a storage medium (often a cassette of some kind), and a play back device (the burst transmitter). They were used extensively by the USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies, but also by the Western Allies. The US also used them during the Vietnam War, to make efficient use of the limited frequency space.

Expanded Latin alphabet In the International Morse Code, each character of the basic ISO Latin alphabet is represented by a a series of dots and dashes, sometimes called dits and dahs, in such a way that the most frequently used letters (in the English language) are represented by the shortest codes. The table below shows the Latin characters that are most commonly used (by radio amateurs) today. Dichotomic chart The branched table below shows how the morse code of each Latin character is constructed. The letters with the highest frequency (i.e. the letters are used the most in English) are higher up in the table. A left-branch represents a dot, whilst a right-branch represents a dash. Special characters and punctuation marks are at the bottom. Click the image to download it as a PDF file. Russian Although the Russian language requires a differerent character set (Cyrillic), the same morse mode as for the Latin-oriented languages is used. The characters that have a Latin equivalent (e.g. the Russian letter 'Б' is the Latin letter 'B') use the same morse code. As the Russian alphabet has more characters (33) that the Latin alphabet (26), some additional codes are used.

The table below can be used as a reference. Click the table to download it as a PDF file. Learning morse code When learning morse code, one first has to memorize the basic alphabet, starting with the letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9). While the tables above can be used as a guide, some people require a visual aid when trying to memorize the morse characters. The diagram below is an example of such a visual symbolic aid. Click the image to download it as a PDF file. Over the years, many methods for learning morse code have been developed. Some methods start with sending and receiving at a very slow speed, which is then gradually increased over time, whilst other methods claim that is is better to start sending the characters at the target speed, with long spaces in between them. The spaces are than gradually reduced. Timing Although morse code can be transmitted at any given speed, the relative timing between the various elements is fixed. Generally speaking, morse code consists of five elements: a dot (one unit), a dash (three units), an inter-element gap (one unit), a gap between letters (three units) and the gap between words (7 units).

The diagram below shows the timing for each of the elements. In the above diagram, the text 'MESSAGE TO' has been used as an example. It is also possible to represent morse code by a constant stream of digital bits (ones and zeros). If we define a tone as a '1' and a silence as a '0', the above example would produce the following bit-stream: 111011100010001010100010101000101110001110111010001000000011100011101110111 © Copyright 1989, AG Reinhold, Cambridge, UK. Crypto Museum, November 2008. Further information Morse code | EnglishClub Today, few people know how to decipher Morse code. The telegraph that delivered Morse code paved the way for the telephone and the Internet. Note: It is interesting to note that Morse code was designed to speed transmission by making the code for the most common characters as short as possible.

So for example, the most frequent letter in English, the vowel "E", is a single dot and the second most frequent, the consonant "T", is a single dash. The length and complexity of other characters is in approximate proportion to their frequency in English. Origin: Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was an American inventor who helped develop the electronic telegraph and long-distance communication. He invented the code that bears his name. The dots and dashes made clicks and beeping sounds that conveyed the code to the telegraph operator. Quick Quiz: Morse code dictionary definition | Morse code defined Note: The @ sign, a combination of a and c, was added in 2004 in order that telegraphers could send e-mail addresses.There are extensions to International Morse Code to accommodate letters with diacritical marks used in non-English alphabets. See also dash , dot , ham , ITU , and telegraph . A character code invented by Samuel Morse that is represented by the duration of a single tone. Written as dots, dashes and spaces, the first Morse code message was sent in 1844 over a newly constructed telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington.

In World War II, Morse code was sent by light signals. A variation of the original was made by Friedrich Gerke in 1848, which evolved into the International Morse Code. Dits and Dahs - Actually Hear Them! The code was based on English; E and T being the most frequently used letters, hence one dot was assigned to E and one dash for T (see table below). Dots and dashes are vocalized as "dit" and "dah," and the timing is one dit between each dit and dah, three dits between letters and seven dits between words. To hear an audible translation in Morse code of any text, visit Try catching the rhythm. Morse Code Beat Out Texting In 2007, Tonight Show host Jay Leno posed a speed challenge. Given the secret message at the same time "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance," the Morse code operator tapped all the words to his colleague across the stage before the young texter could finish typing the sentence. See Gmail Tap and telegraph . International Morse Code A .- U ..- B -... V ...- C -.-. W .-- D -.. X -..- E . Y -.-- Z --..

F ..-. G --. 0 ----- H .... 1 .---- I .. 2 ..--- J .--- 3 ...-- 4 ....- K -.- 5 ..... L .-.. 6 -.... M -- 7 --... N -. 8 ---.. O --- 9 ----. P .--. Period .-.-.- Q --.- Comma --..-- R .-. ? Mark ..--.. S ... Hyphen -....- T - Apostrophe .----. Colon ---... U ..- Quotation .-..-. V ...- Slash -..-. W .-- @ sign .--.-. X -..- Y -.-- Z --.. Learning Morse Code LEARNING THE MORSE CODE The telegraphic code used for amateur radio telegraphic communication is the International Morse Code consisting of dot (.) and dashes (-). In Morse Code a dot (.) is made by pressing the telegraph key down and allowing it to spring back up again rapidly; and for making a dash (-), the key is held down for a bit longer period. It is said that a dash(-) unit is three time longer than a dot(.) unit. The Morse Code in fact consists of combinations of aurally distinguishable tones.

A tone produced for short duration is a dot tone and a tone three times longer than this tone is a dash tone. To practice Morse Code sending, a novice can use a small device called the 'Code Practice Oscillator' (CPO). This is a small electronic circuit capable of generating a sinusoidal audio tone when a key (or switch) is made 'on' or 'off' manually. It is advisable not to start practice sending the Morse code until the novice is proficient in receiving Morse code. For receiving practice, you have to rely on a ham radio operator who can send/generate Morse code using a CPO or you can try to find out Morse Code transmissions over your radio receiver. Morse code practice cassettes and multimedia computer software are nowadays available. Mere gaining confidence in sending does not qualify you to be an expert receiver! In fact you may not be able to receive a single letter in Morse code even if you gained a sending proficiency of 12 words Per Minute (WPM)! Remembering the Morse codes is an art by itself. It involves a rhythmic response in your mind. Try to remember the combination of dot (.) and dashes (-) by their sound and not as a group of printed symbols.

For this purpose, a dot (.) is referred to as a 'di' and a dash (-) as a 'dah'. A 'di' coming at the end of the combination is pronounced as 'dit' The letter 'R' is represented by '. - .' (di dah dit) in Morse code. The time taken to produce the sound equivalent to one 'di' or 'dit' (dot) is taken as unit time and called a dot unit. A 'dah' is approximately of three dot units length and the space between two sound elements of a letter is one dot unit, i.e. silence period is one dot unit. The space between two letters or characters is equal to three dot units. The space between two words is equal to five dot units. The word 'cat' can be represented as -.-. .- - (dah di dah dit di dah dah) Morse Code speed The minimum speed to qualify for a Grade II licence is 5 words per minute (5 wpm). 5 letters/characters constitute a word. A message containing 125 letters when sent in 5 minutes or when received in 5 minutes makes your speed 5 wpm.

125 /5=25 words in 5 minute; i.e. 5 words per minute. In fact Morse code devised by Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872) is a primitive type of digital communication which still works efficiently in this era of microprocessors and computers. In a computer, all information are processed or stored in binary digits, i.e. 0 and 1s. A zero (0) means that the switch is off and a one (1) makes it on. One interesting fact is that any type of information can be converted to binary digits and later on the information stored in the form of binary digits can be decyphered (decoded). In the Morse Code system, the encoding is done by 'short' and 'long' duration of flow of current through a circuit. This method of representing and manipulating information in electrical form is known as digital approach, because the encoded information may be visualized as a series of numerical digits. The modern day computer to computer digital communication (which is automated) can be visualised as an extension of the communication system that started with the hand key operated telegraphic communication (which is manual) back in 1837.

The computer can sense the 'long' and 'short' pulses and decipher them automatically. But a ham receiving Morse code deciphers the message by listening to the 'short' and 'long' tones. Though the modern day computer communication has its roots in Morse code communication, yet it has been observed that the allocation of Morse codes to the characters has been done in a haphazard manner. It is believed that Samuel F.B. Morse did not visualised his code as a binary sequence. They also believe that Morse did not heard of his now celebrated compatriot George Boole (1854) and his famous work on binary algebra going by his name! Morse code is also called CW, i.e. Continuous Wave, in the sense that a constant amplitude interrupted radio frequency wave is transmitted; interruption being made in conformity with the code. Analog and Digital methods The electrical telephone and telegraph are very simple examples which illustrates the difference between the analog and digital methods. In the telephone, the information is transmitted from one end to the other via a current which varies continuously as direct equivalent of sound waves striking the microphone-the analog approach.

In the telegraph, the information is encoded (cyphered) and sent as a sequence of current/no current pulses illustrating the digital approach. Why Morse code is still in use? Despite the capability of voice communication, Morse code is still in use. One important reason is that a vast group of the radio amateurs still adore Morse code. A ham radio operator employing digital communication techniques (like Packet Radio, Radio Tele Typing-RTTY or Amateur Tele-printing Over Radio-AMTOR) in his ham radio operation treats Morse code with much the same affection he has for those modern innovations. A ham radio operator wearing his headphone and the Morse Key in hand can send message silently without disturbing family members who are in sleep! Another reason is that short wave radio telephone (voice) signals often suffer very rapid and deep fading; two frequencies separated by only a few hertz, fade at different times. To overcome this, modulated code tones are transmitted. The situation is now that under severe conditions of fading, the carrier frequency may fade out completely but one or the other side band may remain strong as a result a continuously readable signal is received. This is the reason that we hear a band full of exotic sounding CW callsigns at any time of day or night.

When the a band appears to be dead, and we can barely copy phone signals, the band remains alive with many CW signals. Why this be so? (i) The answer is that to communicate human speech, a wider bandwidth is required than that of the CW signal. With a smaller bandwidth the 'signal to noise ratio' of the receiver is significantly improved, and the threshold at which signals can still be received above the noise level is therefore extended. (ii) Also, it is possible for the human ear to be able to resolve CW signals which are only marginally above the noise level, whereas SSB signals of the same signal level could not be copied. It has been suggested that CW has an advantage of approximately 20dB over SSB signals. A narrow bandpass filter improves the CW reception. How to learn Morse Code? Many newcomers seek exemption from 'tiresome' Morse test for Short wave operation. This is unfortunate as the Morse code is the key to enter into the world of ham radio with little monetary investment. A novice can assemble a simple Morse code transmitter with lesser technical hurdles than that of a SSB Voice transmitter. Morse code can be learnt easily if we use certain techniques to remember the codes.

Learning the Morse code is also a personal venture embarked upon by alone. Almost all the letters/characters and puncuation marks can be arranged in certain groups which can used to show the resemblance between/among the combination of dot and dashes. For example the letter 'A' (. _ ) is the opposite of 'N' ( _ . ) in Morse code. Similarly, the letters A, U, V and the character 4 can be made into a group which shows a definite sequence. Given below is a table of such combinations. EISH TMO AN DU WG BV PX After remembering the Morse code combination for the EISH combination, the following words can be formed to be sent for receiving practice. IS HIS SHE In a similar way, once the novice is able to remember the Morse code combinations for the rest of the combinations shown above, the number of words to be sent can be increased accordingly as shown below. THIS TOM SOME IT MISS THE MAN NAME TEN NET HAM DATE MAD SAD SUN Morse code | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit A typical "straight key." This U.S. model, known as the J-38, was manufactured in huge quantities during World War II , and remains in widespread use today.

In a straight key, the signal is "on" when the knob is pressed, and "off" when it is released. Length and timing of the dots and dashes are entirely controlled by the operator. Beginning in 1836, the American artist Samuel F. B. Morse , the American physicist Joseph Henry , and Alfred Vail developed an electrical telegraph system. This system sent pulses of electric current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, and the silence between them. Morse therefore developed the forerunner to modern International Morse code. In 1837, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England began using an electrical telegraph that also used electromagnets in its receivers. However, in contrast with any system of making sounds of clicks, their system used pointing needles that rotated above alphabetical charts to indicate the letters that were being sent. In 1841, Cooke and Wheatstone built a telegraph that printed the letters from a wheel of typefaces struck by a hammer.

This machine was based on their 1840 telegraph and worked well; however, they failed to find customers for this system and only two examples were ever built. [2] On the other hand, the three Americans' system for telegraphy, which was first used in about 1844, was designed to make indentations on a paper tape when electric currents were received. Morse's original telegraph receiver used a mechanical clockwork to move a paper tape. When an electrical current was received, an electromagnet engaged an armature that pushed a stylus onto the moving paper tape, making an indentation on the tape. When the current was interrupted, a spring retracted the stylus, and that portion of the moving tape remained unmarked. The Morse code was developed so that operators could translate the indentations marked on the paper tape into text messages. In his earliest code, Morse had planned to only transmit numerals, and use a dictionary to look up each word according to the number which had been sent. However, the code was soon expanded by Alfred Vail to include letters and special characters, so it could be used more generally.

Vail determined the frequency of use of letters in the English language by counting the movable type he found in the type-cases of a local newspaper in Morristown. [3] The shorter marks were called "dots", and the longer ones "dashes", and the letters most commonly used were assigned the shorter sequences of dots and dashes. File:Morse comparison.svg In the original Morse telegraphs, the receiver's armature made a clicking noise as it moved in and out of position to mark the paper tape. The telegraph operators soon learned that they could translate the clicks directly into dots and dashes, and write these down by hand, thus making the paper tape unnecessary. When Morse code was adapted to radio communication , the dots and dashes were sent as short and long pulses. It was later found that people became more proficient at receiving Morse code when it is taught as a language that is heard, instead of one read from a page. [4] To reflect the sounds of Morse code receivers, the operators began to vocalise a dot as "dit", and a dash as "dah". Dots which are not the final element of a character became vocalised as "di".

For example, the letter "c" was then vocalised as "dah-di-dah-dit". [5] [6] In the 1890s, Morse code began to be used extensively for early radio communication, before it was possible to transmit voice. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, most high-speed international communication used Morse code on telegraph lines, undersea cables and radio circuits. In aviation, Morse code in radio systems started to be used on a regular basis in the 1920s. Although previous transmitters were bulky and the spark gap system of transmission was difficult to use, there had been some earlier attempts. In 1910 the U.S. Navy experimented with sending Morse from an airplane. [7] That same year a radio on the airship America had been instrumental in coordinating the rescue of its crew. [8] However, there was no aeronautical radio in use during World War I , and in the 1920s there was no radio system used by such important flights as that of Charles Lindbergh from New York to Paris in 1927. Once he and the Spirit of St.

Louis were off the ground, Lindbergh was truly alone and incommunicado. On the other hand, when the first airplane flight was made from California to Australia in the 1930s on the Southern Cross , one of its four crewmen was its radio operator who communicated with ground stations via radio telegraph . Beginning in the 1930s, both civilian and military pilots were required to be able to use Morse code, both for use with early communications systems and identification of navigational beacons which transmitted continuous two- or three-letter identifiers in Morse code. Aeronautical charts show the identifier of each navigational aid next to its location on the map. Radio telegraphy using Morse code was vital during World War II , especially in carrying messages between the warships and the naval bases of the belligerents. Long-range ship-to-ship communications was by radio telegraphy, using encrypted messages, because the voice radio systems on ships then were quite limited in both their range, and their security. Radiotelegraphy was also extensively used by warplanes , especially by long-range patrol planes that were sent out by these navies to scout for enemy warships, cargo ships, and troop ships.

In addition, rapidly moving armies in the field could not have fought effectively without radiotelegraphy, because they moved more rapidly than telegraph and telephone lines could be erected. This was seen especially in the blitzkrieg offensives of the Nazi German Wehrmacht in Poland, Belgium, France (in 1940), the Soviet Union , and in North Africa ; by the British Army in North Africa , Italy, and the Netherlands; and by the U.S. Army in France and Belgium (in 1944), and in southern Germany in 1945. Morse code was used as an international standard for maritime distress until 1999, when it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress Safety System . When the French Navy ceased using Morse code on January 31, 1997, the final message transmitted was "Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence." [9] In the United States the final commercial Morse Code transmission was on July 12, 1999, signing off with Samuel Morse's original 1844 message, " What hath God wrought ", and the prosign "SK".

[10] The United States Coast Guard has ceased all use of Morse code on the radio, and no longer monitors any radio frequencies for Morse code transmissions, including the international medium frequency (MF) distress frequency of 500 kHz . [11] However the Federal Communications Commission still grants commercial radiotelegraph operator licenses to applicants who pass its code and written tests. [12] Licensees have reactivated the old California coastal Morse station KPH and regularly transmit from the site under either this Call sign or as KSM. Similarly, a few US Museum ship stations are operated by Morse enthusiasts. [13] User proficiency Edit A commercially manufactured iambic paddle used in conjunction with an electronic keyer to generate high-speed Morse code, the timing of which is controlled by the electronic keyer. Manipulation of dual-lever paddles is similar to the Vibroplex , but pressing the right paddle generates a series of dahs, and squeezing the paddles produces dit-dah-dit-dah sequence. The actions are reversed for left-handed operators. Morse code speed is measured in words per minute (wpm) or characters per minute (cpm). Characters have differing lengths because they contain differing numbers of dots and dashes.

Consequently words also have different lengths in terms of dot duration, even when they contain the same number of characters. For this reason, a standard word is helpful to measure operator transmission speed. "PARIS" and "CODEX" are two such standard words. [14] Operators skilled in Morse code can often understand ("copy") code in their heads at rates in excess of 40 wpm. International contests in code copying are still occasionally held. In July 1939 at a contest in Asheville, North Carolina in the United States Ted R. McElroy set a still-standing record for Morse copying, 75.2 wpm. [15] William Pierpont N0HFF also notes that some operators may have passed 100 wpm. [15] By this time they are "hearing" phrases and sentences rather than words. The fastest speed ever sent by a straight key was achieved in 1942 by Harry Turner W9YZE (d. 1992) who reached 35 wpm in a demonstration at a U.S. Army base.

To accurately compare code copying speed records of different eras it is useful to keep in mind that different standard words (50 dot durations versus 60 dot durations) and different interword gaps (5 dot durations versus 7 dot durations) may have been used when determining such speed records. For example speeds run with the CODEX standard word and the PARIS standard may differ by up to 20%. Today among amateur operators there are several organizations that recognize high speed code ability, one group consisting of those who can copy Morse at 60 wpm. [16] Also, Certificates of Code Proficiency are issued by several amateur radio societies, including the American Radio Relay League . Their basic award starts at 10 wpm with endorsements as high as 40 wpm, and are available to anyone who can copy the transmitted text. Members of the Boy Scouts of America may put a Morse interpreter's strip on their uniforms if they meet the standards for translating code at 5 wpm. International Morse Code Edit Morse code has been in use for more than 160 years—longer than any other electrical coding system. What is called Morse code today is actually somewhat different from what was originally developed by Vail and Morse.

The Modern International Morse code, or continental code, was created by Friedrich Clemens Gerke in 1848 and initially used for telegraphy between Hamburg and Cuxhaven in Germany. Gerke changed nearly half of the alphabet and all of the numerals resulting substantially in the modern form of the code. After some minor changes, International Morse Code was standardized at the International Telegraphy Congress in 1865 in Paris, and was later made the standard by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Morse's original code specification, largely limited to use in the United States and Canada, became known as American Morse code or railroad code. American Morse code is now seldom used except in historical re-enactments. Aviation Edit In aviation , instrument pilots use radio navigation aids. To ensure that the stations the pilots are using are serviceable, the stations all transmit a short set of identification letters (usually a two-to-five-letter version of the station name) in Morse code. Station identification letters are shown on air navigation charts. For example, the VOR based at Manchester Airport in England is abbreviated as "MCT", and MCT in Morse code is transmitted on its radio frequency.

In some countries, during periods of maintenance, the facility may radiate a T-E-S-T code (— · · · · —) or the code may be removed, which tells pilots and navigators that the station is unreliable. In Canada, the identification is removed entirely to signify the navigation aid is not to be used. [17] [18] In the aviation service Morse is typically sent at a very slow speed; in the U.S. this is about 5 words per minute. Pilots do not actually have to know Morse to identify the transmitter because on aeronautical charts, the sound sequences are written out next to the transmitter's symbol. Some modern navigation receivers automatically translate the code into displayed letters. Amateur radio Edit Vibroplex brand semiautomatic key (generically called a "bug"). The paddle, when pressed to the right by the thumb, generates a series of dits, the length and timing of which are controlled by a sliding weight toward the rear of the unit. When pressed to the left by the knuckle of the index finger, the paddle generates a single dah, the length of which is controlled by the operator. Multiple dahs require multiple presses.

Left-handed operators use a key built as a mirror image of this one. International Morse code today is most popular among amateur radio operators, where it is used as the pattern to key a transmitter on and off in the radio communications mode commonly referred to as " continuous wave " or "CW" to distinguish it from spark transmissions, not because the transmission was continuous. Other keying methods are available in radio telegraphy, such as frequency shift keying . The original amateur radio operators used Morse code exclusively, since voice-capable radio transmitters did not become commonly available until around 1920. Until 2003 the International Telecommunication Union mandated Morse code proficiency as part of the amateur radio licensing procedure worldwide. However, the World Radiocommunication Conference of 2003 made the Morse code requirement for amateur radio licensing optional. [19] Many countries subsequently removed the Morse requirement from their licence requirements. [20] Until 1991 a demonstration of the ability to send and receive Morse code at a minimum of five words per minute (wpm) was required to receive an amateur radio license for use in the United States from the Federal Communications Commission .

Demonstration of this ability was still required for the privilege to use the HF bands. Until 2000 proficiency at the 20 wpm level was required to receive the highest level of amateur license (Amateur Extra Class); effective April 15, 2000, the FCC reduced the Extra Class requirement to five wpm. [21] Finally, effective on February 23, 2007 the FCC eliminated the Morse code proficiency requirements from all amateur radio licenses. While voice and data transmissions are limited to specific amateur radio bands under U.S. rules, Morse code is permitted on all amateur bands— LF , MF , HF, UHF, and VHF. In some countries, certain portions of the amateur radio bands are reserved for transmission of Morse code signals only. The relatively limited speed at which Morse code can be sent led to the development of an extensive number of abbreviations to speed communication. These include prosigns , Q codes , and a set of Morse code abbreviations for typical message components. For example, CQ is broadcast to be interpreted as "seek you" (I'd like to converse with anyone who can hear my signal).

OM (old man), YL (young lady) and XYL ("ex-YL" – wife) are common abbreviations. YL or OM is used by an operator when referring to the other operator, XYL or OM is used by an operator when referring to his or her spouse. QTH is "location" ("My QTH" is "My location"). The use of abbreviations for common terms permits conversation even when the operators speak different languages. Although the traditional telegraph key (straight key) is still used by some amateurs, the use of mechanical semi-automatic keyers (known as "bugs") and of fully automatic electronic keyers is prevalent today. Software is also frequently employed to produce and decode Morse code radio signals. Other uses Edit A U.S. Navy signalman sends Morse code signals in 2005. Through May 2013 the First, Second, and Third Class (commercial) Radiotelegraph Licenses using code tests based upon the CODEX standard word were still being issued in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission.

The First Class license required 20 WPM code group and 25 WPM text code proficiency, the others 16 WPM code group test and 20 WPM code text test. It was also necessary to pass written tests on operating practice and electronics theory. A unique additional demand for the First Class was a requirement of a year of experience for operators of shipboard and coast stations using Morse. This allowed the holder to be chief operator on board a passenger ship. However, since 1999 the use of satellite and very high frequency maritime communications systems ( GMDSS ) has made them obsolete. (By that point meeting experience requirement for the First was very difficult.) Currently only one class of license, the Radiotelegraph Operator Certificate, is issued. This is granted either when the tests are passed or as the Second and First are renewed and become this lifetime license. For new applicants it requires passing a written examination on electronic theory, as well as 16 WPM code and 20 WPM text tests. However the code exams are currently waived for holders of Amateur Extra Class licenses who obtained their operating privileges under the old 20 WPM test requirement.

Radio navigation aids such as VORs and NDBs for aeronautical use broadcast identifying information in the form of Morse Code, though many VOR stations now also provide voice identification. [22] Warships, including those of the U.S. Navy , have long used signal lamps to exchange messages in Morse code. Modern use continues, in part, as a way to communicate while maintaining radio silence . Submarine periscopes include a signal lamp. Applications for the general public Edit Representation of SOS-Morse code. An important application is signalling for help through SOS, "· · · — — — · · ·". This can be sent many ways: keying a radio on and off, flashing a mirror, toggling a flashlight and similar methods. SOS is not three separate characters, rather, it is a prosign SOS, and is keyed without gaps between characters. [23] Morse code as an assistive technology Edit Morse code has been employed as an assistive technology , helping people with a variety of disabilities to communicate. Morse can be sent by persons with severe motion disabilities, as long as they have some minimal motor control.

An original solution to the problem that caretakers have to learn to decode has been an electronic typewriter with the codes written on the keys. Codes were sung by users; see the voice typewriter employing morse or votem, Newell and Nabarro, 1968. Morse code can also be translated by computer and used in a speaking communication aid. In some cases this means alternately blowing into and sucking on a plastic tube (" sip-and-puff " interface). An important advantage of Morse code over row column scanning is that, once learned, it does not require looking at a display. Also, it appears faster than scanning. People with severe motion disabilities in addition to sensory disabilities (e.g. people who are also deaf or blind) can receive Morse through a skin buzzer.[ citation needed ]. In one case reported in the radio amateur magazine QST , [24] an old shipboard radio operator who had a stroke and lost the ability to speak or write could communicate with his physician (a radio amateur) by blinking his eyes in Morse. Another example occurred in 1966 when prisoner of war Jeremiah Denton , brought on television by his North Vietnamese captors, Morse-blinked the word TORTURE.

In these two cases interpreters were available to understand those series of eye-blinks. Representation, timing and speeds International Morse code is composed of five elements: short mark, dot or "dit" (·) — "dot duration" is one time unit long longer mark, dash or "dah" (–) — three time units long inter-element gap between the dots and dashes within a character — one dot duration or one unit long short gap (between letters) — three time units long medium gap (between words) — seven time units long [1] Morse code can be transmitted in a number of ways: originally as electrical pulses along a telegraph wire, but also as an audio tone, a radio signal with short and long tones, or as a mechanical, audible or visual signal (e.g. a flashing light) using devices like an Aldis lamp or a heliograph , a common flashlight, or even a car horn. Some mine rescues have used pulling on a rope - a short pull for a dot and a long pull for a dash. Morse code is transmitted using just two states (on and off). Historians have called it the first digital code.

Strictly speaking it is not binary , as there are five fundamental elements (see quinary ). However, this does not mean Morse code cannot be represented as a binary code. In an abstract sense, this is the function that telegraph operators perform when transmitting messages. Working from the above definitions and further defining a "unit" as a bit , we can visualize any Morse code sequence as a combination of the following five elements: short mark, dot or "dit" (·) — 1 longer mark, dash or "dah" (–) — 111 intra-character gap (between the dots and dashes within a character) — 0 short gap (between letters) — 000 medium gap (between words) — 0000000 Note that this method assumes that dits and dahs are always separated by dot duration gaps, and that gaps are always separated by dits and dahs. Morse messages are generally transmitted by a hand-operated device such as a telegraph key , so there are variations introduced by the skill of the sender and receiver — more experienced operators can send and receive at faster speeds.

In addition, individual operators differ slightly, for example using slightly longer or shorter dashes or gaps, perhaps only for particular characters. This is called their "fist", and experienced operators can recognize specific individuals by it alone. A good operator who sends clearly and is easy to copy is said to have a "good fist". A "poor fist" is a characteristic of sloppy or hard to copy Morse code. An operator must choose two speeds when sending a message in Morse code. First, the operator must choose the character speed, or how fast each individual letter is sent. Second, the operator must choose the text speed, or how fast the entire message is sent. Both speeds can be the same, but often they are not the same. An operator could generate the characters at a high rate, but by increasing the space between the letters, send the message more slowly. Using different character and text speeds is, in fact, a common practice, and is used in the Farnsworth method of learning Morse code . Because Morse code is usually hand generated, an operator may retain a certain comfortable character speed, but vary the text speed by varying the spacing between the letters. All Morse code elements depend on the dot length.

A dash is the length of 3 dots, and spacings are specified in number of dot lengths. Because of this, some method to standardize the dot length is useful. A simple way to do this is to send the same five-character word over and over for one minute at a speed that will allow the operator to send the correct number of words in one minute. If, for example, the operator wanted a character speed of 13 words per minute, the operator would send the five-character word 13 times in exactly one minute. From this, the operator would arrive at a dot length necessary to produce 13 words per minute while meeting all the standards. The word one chooses determines the dot length. A word with more dots, like PARIS, would be sent with longer dots to fill in one minute. A word with more dashes, like CODEX, would produce a shorter dot length so everything would fit into 1 minute. The words PARIS and CODEX are frequently used as a Morse code standard word. Using the word PARIS as a standard, the number of dot units is 50 and a simple calculation shows that the dot length at 20 words per minute is 60 milliseconds.

Using the word CODEX with 60 dot units, the dot length at 20 words per minute is 50 milliseconds. Because Morse code is usually sent by hand, it is unlikely that an operator could be that precise with the dot length, and the individual characteristics and preferences of the operators usually override the standards. For commercial radiotelegraph licenses in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission specifies tests for Morse code proficiency in words per minute of text speed. [25] The commission does not specify character speeds. For proficiency at 20 words per minute, it would be impossible to generate characters at less than that speed. If, for example, the characters were generated at a rate to produce 5 words in one minute, the examiner could not send 20 words in one minute. Conversely, the examiner could generate characters at a rate to produce 24 words per minute, but increase the character spacing to send the message at 20 words per minute. The regulation, however, only specifies the number of words to be received in one minute. While the Federal Communications Commission no longer requires Morse code for amateur radio licenses, the old requirements were similar to the requirements for commercial radiotelegraph licenses.

[26] There was no requirement for any particular character speed, but the examinee had to send and receive a message at a specified text speed. A difference between amateur radio licenses and commercial radiotelegraph licenses is that commercial operators must be able to receive code groups of random characters along with plain language text. For each class of license, the code group speed requirement is slower than the plain language text requirement. For example, for the Radiotelegraph Operator License, the examinee must pass a 20 word per minute plain text test and a 16 word per minute code group test. [12] Based upon a 50 dot duration standard word such as PARIS, the time for one dot duration or one unit can be computed by the formula: T = 1200 / W or T = 6000 / C Where: T is the unit time, or dot duration, in milliseconds, W is the speed in wpm , and C is the speed in cpm . Below is an illustration of timing conventions.

The phrase "MORSE CODE", in Morse code format, would normally be written something like this, where – represents dahs and · represents dits: −− −−− ·−· ··· · −·−· −−− −·· · M O R S E C O D E Next is the exact conventional timing for this phrase, with = representing "signal on", and .

representing "signal off", each for the time length of exactly one dit: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 M------ O---------- R------ S---- E C---------- O---------- D------ E ===.===...===.===.===...=.===.=...=.=.=...=.......===.=.===.=...===.===.===...===.=.=...= ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | dah dit | | symbol space letter space word space Morse code is often spoken or written with "dah" for dashes, "dit" for dots located at the end of a character, and "di" for dots located at the beginning or internally within the character.

Thus, the following Morse code sequence: M O R S E C O D E −− −−− ·−· ··· · (space) −·−· −−− −·· · is orally: Dah-dah dah-dah-dah di-dah-dit di-di-dit dit, Dah-di-dah-dit dah-dah-dah dah-di-dit dit. Note that there is little point in learning to read written Morse as above; rather, the sounds of all of the letters and symbols need to be learned, for both sending and receiving. Link budget issues Edit Morse Code cannot be treated as a classical radioteletype (RTTY) signal when it comes to calculating a link margin or a link budget for the simple reason of it possessing variable length dots and dashes as well as variant timing between letters and words. For the purposes of Information Theory and Channel Coding comparisons the word PARIS is used to determine Morse Code's properties because it has an even number of dots and dashes. Morse Code when transmitted essentially creates an AM signal (even in on/off keying mode), assumptions about signal can be made with respect to similarly timed RTTY signalling.

Because Morse code transmissions employ an on-off keyed radio signal, it requires less complex transmission equipment than other forms of radio communication. Morse code also requires less signal bandwidth than voice communication, typically 100–150 Hz , compared to the roughly 2400 Hz used by single-sideband voice , although at a lower data rate. Morse code is usually received as a medium-pitched audio tone (600–1000 Hz), so transmissions are easier to copy than voice through the noise on congested frequencies, and it can be used in very high noise / low signal environments. The transmitted power is concentrated into a limited bandwidth so narrow receiver filters can be used to suppress interference from adjacent frequencies. The narrow signal bandwidth also takes advantage of the natural aural selectivity of the human brain, further enhancing weak signal readability. This efficiency makes CW extremely useful for DX (distance) transmissions , as well as for low-power transmissions (commonly called " QRP operation ", from the Q-code for "reduce power"). The ARRL has a readability standard for robot encoders called ARRL Farnsworth Spacing [27] that is supposed to have higher readability for both robot and human decoders.

Some programs like WinMorse [28] have implemented the standard. Learning methods Edit People learning Morse code using the Farnsworth method are taught to send and receive letters and other symbols at their full target speed, that is with normal relative timing of the dots, dashes and spaces within each symbol for that speed. The Farnsworth method is named for Donald R. "Russ" Farnsworth, also known by his call sign , W6TTB. However, initially exaggerated spaces between symbols and words are used, to give "thinking time" to make the sound "shape" of the letters and symbols easier to learn. The spacing can then be reduced with practice and familiarity. Another popular teaching method is the Koch method, named after German psychologist Ludwig Koch, which uses the full target speed from the outset, but begins with just two characters. Once strings containing those two characters can be copied with 90% accuracy, an additional character is added, and so on until the full character set is mastered. In North America, many thousands of individuals have increased their code recognition speed (after initial memorization of the characters) by listening to the regularly scheduled code practice transmissions broadcast by W1AW , the American Radio Relay League's headquarters station.

In the United Kingdom many people learned the Morse code by means of a series of words or phrases that have the same rhythm as a Morse character. For instance, "Q" in Morse is dah-dah-di-dah, which can be memorized by the phrase "God save the Queen", and the Morse for "F" is di-di-dah-dit, which can be memorized as "Did she like it." A well-known Morse code rhythm from the Second World War period derives from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the opening phrase of which was regularly played at the beginning of BBC broadcasts. The timing of the notes corresponds to the Morse for "V"; di-di-di-dah and stood for "V for Victory" (as well as the Roman numeral for the number five). [29] [30] Letters, numbers, punctuation The &, $ and _ signs are not defined inside the ITU recommendation on Morse code. Exclamation Mark There is no standard representation for the exclamation mark (!), although the KW digraph (– · – · – –) was proposed in the 1980s by the Heathkit Company (a vendor of assembly kits for amateur radio equipment).

While Morse code translation software prefers the Heathkit version, on-air use is not yet universal as some amateur radio operators in North America and the Caribbean continue to prefer the older MN digraph (– – – ·) carried over from American landline telegraphy code. Currency symbols The ITU has never codified formal Morse Code representations for currencies as the ISO 4217 Currency Codes are preferred for transmission. The $ sign code was represented in the Phillips Code , a huge collection of abbreviations used on land line telegraphy, as SX. Ampersand The representation of the & sign given above, often shown as AS, is also the Morse prosign for wait. In addition, the American landline representation of an ampersand was similar to "ES" (· · · ·) and hams have carried over this usage as a synonym for "and" (WX HR COLD ES RAINY, "the weather here is cold & rainy").

Keyboard AT @ On May 24, 2004 — the 160th anniversary of the first public Morse telegraph transmission — the Radiocommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union ( ITU-R ) formally added the @ (" commercial at " or "commat") character to the official Morse character set, using the sequence denoted by the AC digraph (· – – · – ·). This sequence was reportedly chosen to represent "A[T] C[OMMERCIAL]" or a letter "a" inside a swirl represented by a "C". [31] The new character facilitates sending email addresses by Morse code and is notable since it is the first official addition to the Morse set of characters since World War I . Prosigns Main article: Other alphabets in Morse code For Chinese, Chinese telegraph code is used to map Chinese characters to four-digit codes and send these digits out using standard Morse code. Korean Morse code [ dead link ] uses the SKATS mapping, originally developed to allow Korean to be typed on western typewriters. SKATS maps hangul characters to arbitrary letters of the Latin script and has no relationship to pronunciation in Korean.

Unusual variants Edit During early World War I (1914-1916) Germany briefly experimented with 'dotty' and 'dashy' Morse, in essence adding a dot or a dash at the end of each Morse symbol. Each one was quickly broken by Allied SIGINT, and standard Morse was restored by Spring 1916. Only a small percent of Western Front (and Mediterranean Sea) traffic ever was in 'dotty' or 'dashy' Morse during the entire War. In popular culture, this is mostly remembered in the book "The Code Breakers" by Kahn and in the national archives of the UK and Australia (whose SIGINT operators copied most of this Morse variant). Other forms of 'Fractional Morse' or 'Fractionated Morse' have emerged. [32] Alternative display of more common characters in International Morse code See also: Huffman coding Some methods of teaching or learning Morse code use the dichotomic search table below. A graphical representation of the dichotomic search table: the user branches left at every dot and right at every dash until the character is finished. T – Happy Morse Code Day | A. T. Baron Happy Morse Code Day A. T.

Baron General communication , history , Morse Code Day , Samuel Morse , signaling , telegraph Okay kiddos. You think you have the knack of superior communication skills. How fast can you text your best friend? How many words per minute can you type on your Mac, your PC, or typewriter—if you even know what that last one is? Yeah, you could pick up the phone and call them. You could also Skype with your colleges, but how did we get to this era of digital communication? It all started with a little electricity and Morse code. Samuel Finley Breese Morse, 1840 A Little Telegraph History Samuel Morse (1791-1872) developed his code after traveling through Europe in 1832 and noticed some wooden windmill-like towers, called semaphores. Conceived by Claude Chappe, back in 1792, the towers used adjustable arms, placed in positions to correspond with the alphabet to communicate with each other. These towers stood on hilltops about six miles apart, and messengers operating the semaphores would read each message by telescope and then pass it on to the next structure.

Although this was faster than horseback, and you didn’t have to worry about where to hitch your ride, it definitely had its limitations. You could only communicate in daylight and in good weather. Morse considered the limitations of the semaphores and began formulating an improvement to communication with the use of two new inventions, electricity and the telegraph. In 1820, Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted, discovered that he could manipulate a magnetized needle when an electric current passed through a surrounding wire. This sparked scientists and inventors across the world to begin experimenting with the principles of electromagnetism to develop some kind of communication system. Sir William Cooke (1806-79) and Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-75) of England developed a telegraph system with five magnetic needles that pointed around a panel of letters and numbers by using an electric current, in the 1830’s. During this time, Morse, with the help of two other researchers, Leonard Gale (1800-83) and Alfred Vail (1807-59), eventually produced a simpler design.

Using a single-circuit telegraph, that worked by pushing an operator key down to complete the electric circuit of a battery, they were able to send the electric signal across a wire to a receiver at the other end. With this device, they could send messages over long distances by using pulses of electricity to signal a machine to make marks on a moving paper tape. Voilà!—Simple, fast communication. More On Morse Code Communication is key, but not without a language. This is where Samuel Morse’s code came in. In 1838, he found a way in which to translate the dots and dashes the machine printed out into English. His original code used the dots and dashes to make numbers, and then assigned a particular number to a word or phrase in English. He soon realized how extensive and cumbersome it would become, so he substituted letters for the numbers of the old system. Furthermore, he took the shortest sequences of dots and dashes and correlated them to the letters most frequently used. For example, the letter E is the most commonly used letter in the English language, and is represented by a single dot. This is like that final round in Wheel of Fortune, where the contestant picks five consonants and a vowel to solve the clue.

They usually pick the most common letters of the alphabet. Here is what the International Morse Code looks like: International Morse Code. Northwestern University Library The original telegraph machines made a clicking sound as they marked the moving paper tape. Soon, the paper became obsolete. Telegraph operators learned that they could translate the clicks directly into dots and dashes. It wasn’t long before operators trained in Morse code by studying it as a language that they heard rather than read from a page. And you thought speaking Klingon was cool. The international Morse code distress signal (··· – – – ···) was first used by the German government in 1905. The repeated pattern of three dots followed by three dashes was easy to remember and chosen for its simplicity. This soon became SOS for short and was later associated with certain phrases, such as “save our ship” and “save our souls.” During World War II, Morse code was critical for communication and used as an international standard for communication at sea until 1999. The Global Maritime Distress Safety System replaced the code, and takes advantage of advances in technology, like satellite communication. Try It Yourself Today, Morse code remains popular with amateur radio operators around the world.

What, you don’t own a telegraph? Not to worry, you can practice online with a Morse code translator , by the White River Valley Museum. You can use a flashlight to send signals to your buddies at night. Here is an example of one I did myself. .- – …. .- – / …. .- – …. / – -. – – – -.. / .- – .-. – – – ..- – -. …. – – Morse Code: Codes and Secret Messages Go ahead and try encoding or decoding some text! Other Encoders Morse Code was designed by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail. It uses short and long pulses - tones or lights - to represent letters and numbers. Probably the most well known Morse Code Message is the one made up of three short pulses, then three long pulses, then three short pulses again. Or "dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot." This message means "S O S" (S = "..." and O is "---"), the distress signal. Officially, the short and long pulses are called "dits" and "dahs", but we like to call them "dots" and "dashes" anyway.

Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail also developed a telegraph machine, which is what is used to send Morse Code messages. A telegraph operator sits at the machine and taps out long and short taps to represent the letters of the message he's sending. I imagine it must take a lot of concentration and a very good memory to keep track of all those dots and dashes! The very first telegraph message ever sent was a short one, but very interesting. The message was: "What God Hath Wrought". You may want to try putting that message in the encoder to see what it looks like! Here's a list of the letters and numbers, as well as the series of dots and dashes for each one. Before you look at it, think about this. In order to save time, the shortest sequences should be used for the letters which are most commonly used, right? So which letters do you think are "dot" and "dash"? Check the list below to see if you're right! A .- B -... C -.-. D -.. International Morse Code International Morse Code For learning Morse code it is recommended that you do not try to remember dots and dashes, but remember the Morse code sounds instead.

Letter CL, Going off the air ("clear") -.-..-.. DO, Change to wabun code -..--- KN, Invite a specific station to transmit -.--. SK, End of transmission (also VA) ...-.- I am ready to copy QRV? Are you ready to copy? QRL The frequency is in use QRL? Is the frequency in use? QTH What is your location? Notes If the duration of a dot is taken to be one unit then that of a dash is three units. The space between the components of one character is one unit, between characters is three units and between words seven units. To indicate that a mistake has been made and for the receiver to delete the last word, send ........ (eight dots). The prosigns are combinations of two letters sent together with no space in between. The other abbreviations and Q codes are sent with the normal spacing. I am a father and foster carer a principal research engineer at the IT Innovation Centre a Woodcraft Folk district coordinator a salsa teacher and in my spare time I write and maintain this web site © Copyright Stephen C.

Phillips, 2015 Google Declares “Morse Code Is Perfect” with New Gmail Tap Mail Program Google Declares “Morse Code Is Perfect” with New Gmail Tap Mail Program TAGS: google , morse code , radio amateurs , single letter , smart phone 04/01/2012 On April 1, Google announced that it has unveiled a new way to use its popular Gmail e-mail system. Called Gmail Tap , it uses dots and dashes to form letters, a system of communicating that should be very familiar to radio amateurs. “Morse code is perfect,” said Gmail Tap Engineer Mitch Fedenko. “It’s just a dot and a dash. What’s simpler than that?” According to Google, Gmail Tap will let you tap without looking at your screen, replace the 26-key keyboard with two keys and double productivity by typing two e-mails at once. “Technology is everywhere today,” explained David Brook, Google Vice President for Communication Services in a video announcing Gmail Tap, “and everyone has a smart phone. Think about the size of [a smart phone]. It’s only two inches, two-and-a-half inches, and we’re trying to cram an entire 26-key keyboard into that space.

It’s time to think about ‘How can we do this better?’ using the technology that we have today. And that’s where Gmail Tap comes in.” Gmail Tap replaces the default keyboard in the Gmail application with one that only has two buttons: One for a dot and one for a dash. Brook said that every single letter in the alphabet can be spelled out by using just these two characters. The QWERTY keyboard -- invented in 1874 -- is still used today, largely unchanged. “In Morse code, every letter of the alphabet is represented by a simple pattern of dots and dashes, and once you know them, you can type without even looking at your screen,” Brook said. “This makes it ideal for situations where you need to discreetly send e-mails, such as when you’re on a date or in a meeting with your boss.” [Editor’s note: If your boss knows Morse code, this option might not work for you.] When Google Software Engineer Reed Morse came to Brook with the idea of bringing Morse code back, Brook said he got “really excited.” Morse claims that Samuel F.B.

Morse -- the creator of Morse code -- was his “great-grandfather’s grandfather’s brother.” Morse is also the Lead Engineer for Gmail Tap. Benefits of Gmail Tap include a split-screen function, enabling you to send two messages at once, to two completely different recipients. “Gmail Tap multitasking, it’s an improvement over speech,” Brook said. “You can say two things with your fingers that your mouth can only say one of. People are going to be twice as productive, and people are going to be able to write e-mails anytime they want.” A planned “ship-to-shore mode” will “activate your phone’s flash to communicate with other power users across an ocean (of people).” Also planned for the future is the Double-Black Diamond mode that will “add a third, fourth and more keyboards for writing up to eight messages at once.” Gmail Tap Product Lead Todd Smith said that “you can tap it in the morning, you can tap it at night, you can tap it in the bathroom. It [takes] a dot and a dash to have a conversation with the entire world. It’s great!” Editor’s note, part deux: The ARRL reminds everyone to keep in mind the date of Gmail Tap’s release. Photo Gallery

Question: In Morse Code, which vowel is represented by a single dot?
Answer: E